Joseph R. Underwood

Joseph Rogers Underwood (24 October 1791-23 August 1876) was a member of the US House of Representatives (W-KY 3) from 4 March 1835 to 3 March 1843 (succeeding Christopher Tompkins and preceding Henry Grider) and a US Senator from 4 March 1847 to 3 March 1853 (succeeding James T. Morehead and preceding John Burton Thompson).

Biography
Joseph Rogers Underwood was born in Goochland County, Virginia in 1791, the brother of Warner Lewis Underwood. In 1803, he moved to Barren County, Kentucky, and he fought in the War of 1812 before becoming a lawyer in Glasgow in 1813. He served in the state house before serving in the US House of Representatives from 1835 to 1843 and in the US Senate from 1847 to 1853, and he sent his own able-bodied slaves to colonize Liberia, encouraging others to do so. However, he supported the Compromise of 1850. Before the American Civil War, he joined the Constitutional Union Party, and he opposed secession both before and during the war. He died near Bowling Green in 1876.